Always With a Book

First line: Dear Sophie, My fiance’s former girlfriend showed up at our engagement party uninvited and released four dozen white mice. From the back cover: Sophie Winston’s sister, Hannah, is getting married – again! And if you ask Sophie, her future brother-in-law is no prince. But is he a killer? That’s the question on everyone’s mind when his ex-wife is found hanging from a pergola. This is one event Sophie…

First line: “That’s the place,” said Carmela Bertrand. From the inside cover: Carmela, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop, and her best friend, Ava Gruiex, owner of Juju Voodoo, have a big project ahead. Melody Mayfeldt is converting an old mansion in the Faubourg Marigny district into an unforgettable haunted house for those who flock to New Orleans for a creepy fix. She needs Carmela’s crafty touch to make the…

First line: It wasn’t that Carmela didn’t like Mardi Gras. From the inside cover: Amid zydeco rhythms and popping champagne corks, bead-draped revelers are moving into the streets, and Jekyl Hardy is playing host to a party in his elegant French Quarter apartment. On a wild night like this, anything can happen. The guests – including Carmela – never imagine it will be murder. But as the evening progresses, Jekyl’s…

First line: “A loup-garou!” exclaimed Carmela Bertrand. From the inside cover: With Halloween barely a week away, things are getting even spookier than usual in New Orleans. A party at Juju Voodoo draws a fabulous throng, and Carmela’s friend Ava has hired a sexy tarot reader named Giovanni to work the crowd. What he doesn’t foretell is that on her way home Carmela will find the body of a beautiful…

First line: “My very favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.” From the back cover: Few can compete with the Natasha Smith when it comes to entertaining, but her childhood rival, Sophie Winston, certainly tries. While Natasha is known for her intricate centerpieces and painstakingly prepared gourmet meals, Sophie likes to keep things simple…real simple. Natasha may have stolen the spotlight – and Sophie’s husband – but Sophie is determined to take home…

First line: It was only the second time in the more than twelve years since her divorce that Megan O’Brien had been home in Chesapeake Shores during the holiday season. From the inside cover: After years apart, Mick and Megan O’Brien are finally ready to make it official…again. Most of their grown children couldn’t be happier about their rekindled love and impending marriage this holiday season. Only Connor is a…

First line: Something drew Kiley Gray to the antique shop. From the inside cover: On a blustery afternoon, Kiley Gray wanders into an antique shop and buys an enchanting snow globe. “There’s a story behind that snow globe,” the antique dealer tells her. The original owner, he explains, was a German toymaker who lost his wife and son right before Christmas. When the grieving widower received the handcrafted snow globe…

First line: Francesca Moretti thought she couldn’t be seeing what she was seeing. From the back cover: The bodies of seven women have been discovered in Skull Valley, Arizona. Jonah Young, a private security operative from Department 6, has been hired by the Yavapai County sheriff to assist in solving these murders. But Jonah’s not prepared for the complications that arise when he’s forced to work with a woman from…

First line: “…seven-teen, eight-teen…nine-teen…twenty!” From the inside cover: Her friends are stunned when Phoebe Swift abruptly leaves a plum job at the prestigious Sotheby’s auction house to open her own vintage clothing shop in London – but to Phoebe, it’s the fulfillment of a dream. In the sunlight-flooded interior of Village Vintage, surrounded by Yves Saint Laurent silk scarves, Vivienne Westwood bustle skirts, cupcake dresses, and satin gowns, Phoebe hopes…

First line: My father would never have asked me to take a leave of absence from my job in New York City if he could have handled my sister’s wedding and the “Jezebel” plotting to preempt it without me. From the back cover: With years of experience working for a top New York designer, Madeira Cutler has learned to appreciate the clean line, rich texture, and elegant draping of a…

First line: From her window Kit Zanetti can see absolutely everything that happens on Commerce Street. From the back cover: It is 1950 in glittering, vibrant New York City. Lucia Sartori is the beautiful twenty-five-old daughter of a prosperous Italian grocer in Greenwich Village. The postwar boom is rife with opportunities for talented girls with ambition, and Lucia becomes an apprentice to an up-and-coming designer at chic B. Altman department…

First line: “Hey.” From the back cover: MISSING! Name: Megan Burton Age: 25 Description: dark hair, blue eyes; no identifiable scars; wearing a diamond tennis bracelet Last seen three years ago in Key West, Florida If you have any information, please contact the police immediately When Sadie Hoffmiller’s new friend, Eric Burton, receives work that his missing daughter’s body may have been found in Florida, he immediately packs his bags,…

First line: Have I made terrible mistakes? From the back cover: A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice Lindgren has no idea that she will one day end up in the White House, married to the president. In her small Wisconsin hometown she learns the virtues of politeness, but a tragic accident when she is seventeen shatters her identity and changes the trajectory of her life. More…